#What helped me – Sue’s story

I was in debt and this was causing me to worry and I didn’t know what to do to sort it out. I spoke to Sarah at Mencap Liverpool as I was getting worried, stressed and upset about it all. My money came in at different times of the month and I didn’t have enough to pay my bills. I was getting calls telling me I owed money and I didn’t know what to do about all of this.

I asked Sarah to help us and she contacted RAISE and arranged for them to meet with me at the Mencap Liverpool Office. Sarah and Sheldon attended the meeting with me and helped to explain what RAISE would do. RAISE made sure that I was getting the correct benefits that I was entitled to. Sarah helped me to sort out a system to manage my money. When I got my money I would use envelopes for each of the bills and then put the amount of money needed for each bill into the envelope. This meant that I know how much money I have left to spend after all of my bills have been paid.

This has really helped and I feel much better about everything now. I am managing my money much better and I don’t feel stressed any more.

I do think that there should be more help needed for people with learning disabilities to manage their money. Letters could be made easier to understand and help should be available for everyone.